Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Since I am still waiting, I will try Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler, the first of the Bryant and May mysteries.

Full Dark House was a lot of fun, I look forward to the others in the series.

Next up is Ender's Game which finally came in from my library. That will be followed by The Man Who Would Be King for the book club.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Yesterday evening I finished reading The Fire Seekers! It proved to be a quite unusual, highly engrossing, creative and very exciting story!

Next I'm going back and attempting to begin again reading a freebie I found on Amazon in mid September (a limited freebie deal, it's $7.99 now), Fatal Debt (Dana MacKenzie #1) by Dorothy Howell.

Fatal Debt turned out to be kind of a fun yarn, even though the protagonist is terribly hard headed, constantly acts out of control and makes very stupid decisions. I'd be really upset if I hadn't gotten this book as a limited time freebie as it has many uncorrected typos! I did enjoy reading it however!

Next I'll be taking a shot at reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I said 'taking a shot' because I've not seen a happy comment here from any of the folks who've read it (the TV ads for the movie got to me and made me want to give it a try)!

[orlok]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Next I'll be taking a shot at reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I said 'taking a shot' because I've not seen a happy comment here from any of the folks who've read it (the TV ads for the movie got to me and made me want to give it a try)!

Well I enjoyed it (as an audiobook). To many the ending is probably a little unsatisfying, but it suited my penchant for darker than usual storylines.

[covingtoncat73]

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. I loved the father's back story but have a feeling that will be the best part of the book.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Fatal Debt turned out to be kind of a fun yarn, even though the protagonist is terribly hard headed, constantly acts out of control and makes very stupid decisions. I'd be really upset if I hadn't gotten this book as a limited time freebie as it has many uncorrected typos! I did enjoy reading it however!

Next I'll be taking a shot at reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I said 'taking a shot' because I've not seen a happy comment here from any of the folks who've read it (the TV ads for the movie got to me and made me want to give it a try)!

Originally Posted by orlok

Well I enjoyed it (as an audiobook). To many the ending is probably a little unsatisfying, but it suited my penchant for darker than usual storylines.

I enjoyed it and I resisted reading it because I am more into fantasy and historical fiction, though I do branch out and love genre-mixing/defying. Anyway, I thought "dreary realistic fiction" but I found it dark rather than dreary with twisted psychology and a hint of meta-fiction and ended up loving it. Like Orlok, I listened to the audiobook.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I'm just starting #2, The Disciple of Las Vegas, so I have a day or two for someone at Kobo to wake up and fix this egregious anomaly. Not that I'm holding my breath. Unfortunately, the Library doesn't carry the eBook version, and I'm just not going to do paper books any more if I can reasonably help it.

And I've now finished: The Disciple of Las Vegas, The Wild Beasts of Wuhan, and The Red Pole of Macau. Enjoyed them all, but I'm going to hold off on The Scottish Banker of Surabaya for a bit while I return to my re-reading of the Liaden Universe novels. Next up: Ghost Ship.

I also see that he claims the audio version of several (Ava Lee) books is available on Audible, but I'm not seeing it, either in Canada or the US. Downpour has it, but I'm not likely to spend >$20 on an audio version when I won't spend $11 less a 40% or 50% coupon.

Interestingly, when I log in to my Kindle Fire, there are two Audible books in the Ava Lee series showing. Just not from my PC. That's just weird. Both are on the exact same account.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. Looking fun so far.

And it was fun. A UK-based occult secret service thriller. I think I have some more books on my wish list now.

Next: Asimov's SF, December 2014.

[MickeyC]

Next I'll be taking a shot at reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I said 'taking a shot' because I've not seen a happy comment here from any of the folks who've read it (the TV ads for the movie got to me and made me want to give it a try)!

Didn't care for the book at all but, surprisingly, the movie was much better.

[bfisher]

I was a big fan of H. Beam Piper. I owned 3 copies of Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and i had two copies of Roland Green's/John F. Carr's continuation Great Kings' War (which used to be a free ebook at Baen, now it's 4 bucks - still a bargain IMHO ).

Since then John F. Carr has continued to write novels in the Kalvan universe. I've accumulated 3 of those on my TBR, and am finally starting to catch up. Started Kalvan Kingmaker last night. Down Styphon.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

As I seem to be in the mood for bits and bites, I'll root around in my Calibre for a short story collection to nibble on (though I'm leaning heavily towards Saki) while I decide what to read next (and hopefully complete My Cousin Rachel soon ) We'll see

I completed a pile of stuff (), including the Chris Norgren Mysteries series by Aaron Elkins (A Deceptive Clarity, A Glancing Light and Old Scores), three Hercule Poirots (Three Act Tragedy, Death in the Clouds and The ABC Murders). I also read some short stuff, most enjoyable being The Birds and Other Stories, by Daphne du Maurier.

The Norgren books are my first read of Aaron Elkins and they're quite decent. The characters and the art world settings were the highlights for me. While the mysteries themselves aren't all that, the books are narrated by Chris, who is a very likeable character and who sometimes addresses the reader directly (but not often enough for it to get annoying )

I enjoyed all three Poirots, and was glad to have Hastings back for at least one of the books. My favorite of the three is Three Act Tragedy; I figured out the killer in The ABC Murders early on, and it felt predictable and slow-going after that, though I liked it well-enough.

The du Maurier short stories were excellent, especially The Old Man, which is brilliant

According to FictFact, I have a few series that are missing only one book each to be completed or brought up to date; I might concentrate on these in the coming week.

[Stitchawl]

Feeling it was time for some comedy, I've decided to re-read the tongue-in-cheek 'The Destroyer' series. The series' hero is Remo Williams, a Newark cop framed for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death that didn't happen. His death is faked by the government so he can be trained as an assassin for CURE, a secret organization set up by the President to defend the country by working outside the law. While the first book in the series tried for serious, it didn't make it. So the authors ( Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir) decided to run with pure unadulterated satire, and that really, really worked! For the next 145 books in the series.

The head of CURE is Harold W. Smith, a man selected by the President for his brilliant mind but also because of his integrity. Smith was a former law instructor at Yale and served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.

Remo's trainer and father-figure is Chiun, a deadly assassin and the last Master of Sinanju. It has also emerged that Remo is the Avatar of Shiva, as prophesied in the legends of Sinanju. The arts of Sinanju supposedly combine all the best aspects of every other martial arts as its starting point, then goes on to teach how to run up the side of a building, how to swim through sand, how to remove someone's heart while standing in a crowded elevator so quickly that no one notices and the victim doesn't even fall down until the elevator stops, etc., etc., etc. Chiun's one (or one of) quirk is that he loves daytime soap operas, and might kill a hotel maid for interrupting his viewing. The whole thing is absolutely ludicrous, but that's what makes it work. And it worked well for 145 books in the series... That's a whole lotta silly books!

Stitchawl

[hildea]

Just finishted Dave Duncan's "The gilded chain". It's not often that I come across a book that describes women so poorly that it ruins the book for me (I've read Dickens "A tale of two cities" (almost) without choking), but this book managed it. Some more comments here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1078122393

Not sure what I'll start on now. I have a half finished novel about Auschwitz -- very good, but hard reading. Or perhaps I'll look at some of the suggestions from Bookworm_Girl here https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=247328 . I mostly read SF and fantasy, but some of those look really tempting.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

The Norgren books are my first read of Aaron Elkins and they're quite decent. The characters and the art world settings were the highlights for me. While the mysteries themselves aren't all that, the books are narrated by Chris, who is a very likeable character and who sometimes addresses the reader directly (but not often enough for it to get annoying )

Yes, I liked the Norgren books too. I suspect that you'd also like his Gideon Oliver books, which are about a forensic anthropologist.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Asimov's SF, December 2014.

Which was OK. One or two seemed more suited to F&SF than Asimov's.

Next up: Analog SFF, December 2014.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Hallowe'en Party", by Agatha Christie, which was originally published in 1969.

Crime novelist Ariadne Oliver is staying with her friend, and helps out at a Hallowe'en party that a woman in the village has organised for the local children. At the party, a girl says that she once witnessed a murder, but nobody believes her. At the end of the evening, however, the girl is found murdered: drowned in a bucket of water. Ariadne Oliver asks her friend, Hercule Poirot, to help in the investigation.

Quite a difficult book to read in many ways, with its theme of child murder (and children who commit murder), but well written, and a well-constructed plot. Recommended.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

My next read will be a Star Trek. My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane.

Very well done. I learned a great deal about Romulan history and culture. Writing was competent and not too wordy. However, a large number of pages was spent in the build-up. The ending was rather quick and, perhaps, too conveniently resolved. Also, the ebook contained many typos to the point of distraction. May read the next in the series if I can get it at a good price. Rated B- [4 stars].

Next, a steampunk, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves.